So my long weekend has come and passed. While I got a lot done, I was unable to get as far as I wanted. I keep forgetting to take photos so apologies for the lack of photos.

last time most of the edges of the particle board were sealed and primed. Turns out I missed a few, no biggy did them as well and painted the ones that were ready with black enamel, which takes 16hrs to dry but is a stronger finish. unfortunately, that did mean I had to wait for things to dry. In the meantime, the new parts for the control panel with screens were cut. the remaining acrylic parts were also cut. all panels that needed T-moulding were routed.

The side panels and control panel top were also assembled. We used a really strong silicone to combine the 3mm composite board with the 12mm mdf. The control panel required a bit of prework with inserts added and some screws for the screens

I do have a photo of the side panel assembled with the leds inserted and tested.

the next part is the hard part. And neither of us know how we are going to do it. We need to run the clear silicone over the leds while also securing the t-moulding while not getting the silicone everywhere and also making sure the t-moulding is flush and not bulging in some places. This is more difficult with all the curves. We have a few ideas but have decided to leave it for the next time I go up there. In the meantime, we need to come up with some strategies.

In other news I knew I would have extra material left over and since i was already getting new parts cut out anyway I figured I'd get my bartop statted. I always wanted a bartop for my desk at work. So I quickly designed and created one based on this one

When I saw this bartop, I loved how modern and slick it looked. especially the flush screen and marquee. So here is my design for a single player version with a 10.1 inch screen (bought this screen at the same time as the screens for the control panel)

so this one cost nothing to cut since I already had the material and was already cutting out parts. Even if I had to buy the material, the sheet of mdf this fits on is $8. Still have to pay for the joystick, buttons, speakers, screen, art etc. All the details will be in this thread for this build. I'm calling this build Chibi for anyone who is interested

We are in Colorado this week and stopped at the Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs last night. My wife and kids were having a ball playing this new Galaga game which reminded me of your build. They want me to build one now and my wife specifically called out the lit t-molding.

We are in Colorado this week and stopped at the Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs last night. My wife and kids were having a ball playing this new Galaga game which reminded me of your build. They want me to build one now and my wife specifically called out the lit t-molding.

Just checked that out on YouTube. Looks amazing. That's a modern galaga done right. (The game anyway)

We are in Colorado this week and stopped at the Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs last night. My wife and kids were having a ball playing this new Galaga game which reminded me of your build. They want me to build one now and my wife specifically called out the lit t-molding.

Just checked that out on YouTube. Looks amazing. That's a modern galaga done right. (The game anyway)

I was surprised how fun it was. My son plays a lot of Galaga and he loved it. We are going to dump $5 into it later.

I know its been like a month! bloody this chito guy is slacking off. lol my sign maker friend got swamped with work so he has been out of action for about 1month. Ive just arrived at his place to hopefully finish of the assembly this weekend. we also have a plan of attack for the t-moulding. Hopefully this time ill remember to take more photos!

in other news im having the worst time with paradise arcade. they are very helpful but super slow! ive messaged them 3 times in the last 2 weeks and they never reply. ive had my order on hold for 4 months i think, waiting for parts that were out of stock. its back in stock finally and they still havent replied or shipped it. i have to keep chasing them. its happened so many times now

Build UpdateAwesome weekend! very productive. We had so many dramas assembling this and yes this build is super over engineered. One of the biggest issues I caused for my self is that I didn't give the Tee joints enough clearance so we had to sand most of them and fix some holes with a router. There were a few things that when I was designing this build I wasn't sure how I was going to solve, but thanks to my mate we solved them all and it came out great. Also, there was a lot of assembling things just for the fit and screwing things in place and then unassembling so we could do another section

So the build is designed to break into 5 sections. This is so its easier to transport, get through doors etc. All 5 sections will be assembled on location.the 5 sections are

control panel

base and tower

left side

right side

Tv cabinet

The baseSo starting from where I left off last time, The first section I tackled was the base. The tower part was starting to take shape, I glued and reinforced the ply wood and back panel for the tower. Then I added other pieces for the base as a kind of dry fit checking angles and general fit

We then lay one of the side sections down and bolted in the part that connects the base section to the side section. We used it as a template to line up the base and all the Tee joints. There was a lot fiddling around trying to get all the Tee joints lined up with their holes and fit. We had to fix some of the joints as mentioned above. This took a lot of time. But eventually, all the parts were in their correct places and played nice with the other parts. When I was happy we then locked them in place using screws and an aluminium angle we customised to be the inside shape of the base.

Once we finished this first side we unbolted the base from the side panel, flipped it over and repeated the process for the other side. before you knew it we had spent all day on just the base section!

the next day I went to the hardware store and bought a sheet of propeller plate which we then cut and shaped to add as the kick plates for the base

Speaker grilleSo while the glue was drying on the kick plates, we moved on to the Grill that will cover the speakers. I ordered a nice textured speaker cloth just for this. I've added canvases to a frame before but my mate had way more exp at it so I let him do it having done it hundreds of times, even had the special tools for it. We later attached the grill to Tv cabinet section with some screws and pieces of aluminium angle.

TV cabinetWe finished off the base section by adding the power cable, back panel and lid. To do so we had to put it back into the side sections and line it up. Again once the pieces played nice, it was secured the other panels and the base with screws and an aluminium angle.

So while everything is on its side we got to work on the TV cabinet section. We used the same process as the base section. The ply frames were already bolted in and so the pieces of the TV cabinet were placed into their holes and once they played nice with each other. We screwed them in place and to the ply wood frame using screws and lots of aluminium angle pieces

it was finally starting to take shape! end of day 2. It looks like ill be able to get the arcade done this weekend finally! or at least not need to drive the 4hrs each way to my mate's place to work on it.

TVSo one of the biggest challenges I knew this build was going to have was how we were going to mount and align the TV. I had a few ideas in my head and I designed it so we could play with a few options. I had 2 TV brackets ready to go, but in the end, we custom made one from galvanised heavy duty slotted steel.

We then placed the arcade on its side to mount the new frame. we first aligned it horizontally and screwed the frame to the ply. We then aligned it vertically by moving the TV in the slots and tightening when we were happy. Once we finished mounting the TV we added the wheels to the base.

this was another issue I was debating on how to solve. Originally I wanted castor wheels and leg levellers as most cabinets have. But I couldn't find good ones, at least not when I was designing this arcade. One of my original ideas was to use mini dollys that would be screwed the base and leg levellers. In the end, I went for some small caster wheels that I could spread the load over and had brakes.

Let there be lightAnd with the Cabient build is done! well almost. Decided to have some fun with it

Once that photo op was over, my time was coming to a close. I need to drive home it was going to get home by midnight. SO we cleaned up and packed up but before I left we decided to tackle the last remaining items, the thing that stands out the most about this build... the LED t-moulding.

So we had a plan of attack.

Insert the LED strips

pour in the silicone in sections

add the t-moulding to cover that section

Use tape to hold the t-moulding in place while the silicone sets

and that's what we did. But it's never that easy, turns out the adhesive on the back of the LED strip was rubbish so we ended up hot glueing it down.

I also have vid but ill have to upload it and add later

So with that, I was done and had to leave. The side sections need the LEDs to be done but my mate said he would take care of it. He also has to print out and apply the artwork. When everything is ready I will then drive up there the last time to collect it and bring it home! I will add the electronics at home. No point doing it there and risking something breaking in transportation.

ParadiseArcade orderin other news, I'm still having the worst time with ParadiseArcade. it will be 3 weeks since they last replied to my ticket and order. The last thing said was "sorry for the delay, this should go out tomorrow" and then they disappeared, they are not replying to anything. They do it so often, my whole support ticket conversation is them disappearing for days and weeks. takes forever to get an answer. It's so pretty frustrating. My order was ready 3 weeks ago and it's probably sitting on a shelve somewhere. I shouldn't need to chase them up about my order. I even had to chase them up to get the invoice so I could pay for it

ParadiseArcade orderin other news, I'm still having the worst time with ParadiseArcade. it will be 3 weeks since they last replied to my ticket and order. The last thing said was "sorry for the delay, this should go out tomorrow" and then they disappeared, they are not replying to anything. They do this so often! my whole conversation is them disappearing for days and weeks. takes forever to get an answer. It's so damn frustrating! my order was ready 3 weeks ago and it's probably sitting on a shelve somewhere. Why I need to chase them up about my order and remind them is already rubbish

Did you try calling the number on the site, Sue is very responsive on all my orders. You do have to check up, it's a mom and pop shop man. They do get swamped and lose track of orders here and there, but if you call and your nice to Sue, she will come through for ya.

Did you try calling the number on the site, Sue is very responsive on all my orders. You do have to check up, it's a mom and pop shop man. They do get swamped and lose track of orders here and there, but if you call and your nice to Sue, she will come through for ya.

I had some delays with them but they came through. You might have to reach out again.

I'm talking to Susan now it's getting sorted. She even reviewed my ordered and offered more advice. I didn't realize it was a small business. Their online presence is like that of a well-established company. Looks like it will be shipped tomorrow

Did you consider a dimmer for the lighted moulding? Might get a little bright on the peripheral vision...

The LED controller already supports dimming all sorted. But this has given me an idea... maybe look into getting the LED brightness to adjust to the rooms ambient lighting. Like how smart phones etc adjust to the environment.

How did you settle on the font for Monolith out of interest? It is literally the exact same one I used for my own Monolith-named build!

It was one of a few fonts I was looking at. I went to dafonts, typed "MONOLITH Monolith" into the preview and went looking. I wanted a font that was sci-fi ish and clean. the Prometheus font was the nicest. Funny thing was the whole artwork for this cab is a blend of the Retro/Prometheus/2001 space odyssey. A mad coincidence I didn't realise till later.

One final note, I didn't actually use the Prometheus font in the end, kinda. When I looked into the font's paths there were uneven limbs and some letters were bigger than others and few other things that annoyed me. My OCD made me recreated it, I cleaned it right up. Wasn't hard since it's a simple enough font

How did you settle on the font for Monolith out of interest? It is literally the exact same one I used for my own Monolith-named build!

It was one of a few fonts I was looking at. I went to dafonts, typed "MONOLITH Monolith" into the preview and went looking. I wanted a font that was sci-fi ish and clean. the Prometheus font was the nicest. Funny thing was the whole artwork for this cab is a blend of the Retro/Prometheus/2001 space odyssey. A mad coincidence I didn't realise till later.

Okay, so I've been asked to share the control panel for anyone who wants to make their own. I've gone ahead and created the following in Fusion 360 which is a clean model with a version that is flat packed.

I've also attached a Zip file that contains the DXF and EPS files so you can print them out on paper and glue to wood to cut them out. Thw same files can be used by CNC machines. One thing to note is that these formats don't contain info for miter cuts, most CNC are only 3 axis machines and only do a few types of cuts. so you'll have have cut the miter joints yourself. reference http://multicam.ca/5-types-of-cutting-in-cnc-routing/

in the EPS file black line is male (outside) cut - do lastblack fill is female (inside) cutred is area clearence (depth) cut approx 10-13mm or whatever suits ur inserts

The control panel is designed for 16mm material, the joystick holes are for M5 inserts (used by GroovyGear). The front of the control panel has an opening for a panel mount for whatever you want. I've added the holes for 4 x Neutrik USB sockets.

assembly is as follows. Note you don't need to cut out the purple piece, it's an annoying piece to cut but it may help with lining things up

There are a few miter joins you will need to cut 4 x 45deg and 8 x 60 deg as indicated by this image

You can edit the control panel to your heart's content using the Fusion 360 link above. The wood thickness is 16mm using the parameter "t" if you want to use a different thickness wood simply update this parameter and the whole model will update. The button hole size is also a parameter "buttons", I'm using iL buttons which have a mounting hole size of 28mm but I used a value of 29.5 otherwise the hole is too tight so it's a good idea to include some clearances in some places and on that note there is a "clearance" parameter of 0.3. Note that any edit you make to the model will mean you have to re-export the DXF file and recreate the EPS files

Don't know why but I totally forgot about that. I've seen 45 deg bits plenty but so far haven't seen a 60 deg bit but they must be out there.

Also, I forgot to mention that the above design was created with a 6mm bit in mind. This of course can be changed in the parameters. Just note that your bit needs to be smaller than the smallest hole or you could just multiple bits which depending on your machine could be annoying.

Side sectionsThe artwork has been printed and the side panels are dressed. I created the designs on a colour calibrated screen but it still printed a little strong on the blue/cyan channel. This could be due to a few reasons like the printer not being calibrated, using the incorrect CYMK profile or even the camera and lights the photo was taken in. Still, I'm very happy with how it turned out. A few weeks back we printed scaled test run versions to test the colour and I was happy with them back then, they turned out great.

We have decided to change how we will do things a bit. The original plan was to add the t-moulding and silicone and then the artwork. This would prevent the artwork from getting stained from the silicone or getting damaged by having to remove the excess. This is what we did to the control panel. The new plan is to add the artwork first and cover it with a protective film, then the silicone and t-moulding will we applied and the protective film peeled off essentially working like masking tape. This new method will allow the artwork to be lined up and the edges trimmed perfectly and cleanly. This is harder to do with the t-moulding already in place. Luckily the control panel is a smaller piece so shouldn't be too much work to line up the artwork and clean the edges.

ParadiseArcade OrderYesterday my package arrived with everything in order and it marks the final items on my bill of materials that were pending! happy days. Susan and Ben were a huge help getting my order sorted. They even threw in Hawaiian Host dark chocolate which was a pleasant surprise and tasted great lol just wish there was more. My order was somewhat complicated and old due to some parts that were out of stock, so even when new stock came in, it got lost in the busy period caused by EVO.

The finish-line is insight but we've had to slow down working on the arcade machine for now. My mate is manning his business alone at the moment. which means he has no time. He even ended up in hospital last night with kidney stones. Ouch. he is a bit stretched at the moment. The last bits to do are resting with him

All that is pending is the t-molding really. the artwork has been applied to all parts. then it can be packed and delivered. I'll then be able to work on the internals and wire things up. because of the silicone is messy and a bit of a pain to apply its still a few hours worth of work. And the process taking a while to cure, it could still be some time before I get my hands on it.

Other options we considered were, we would have to prototype them

transparent hot glue (drys really fast and more rigid, but need heaps and unsure of discoloration)

3d print transparent t-molding that included the 1cm channel (this would be soo easy to make and apply, just would take ages to print enough and unsure of discoloration)

transparent liquid nail (drys really fast and more rigid but unsure of discoloration)